Portugal’s election leaves the country uncertain of its future but boosts Europe’s radical right
Portugal’s inconclusive general election results mean weeks of political uncertainty ahead, and fresh energy to Europe’s shift toward the radical right.
A surge in support for a populist party in Sunday’s election has placed the hard right at the heart of Portuguese politics. The close contest between two leading moderate parties remained unresolved as they awaited deciding results from voters abroad. Official results are due to be published within two weeks.
The rise of the 5-year-old Chega, or Enough, party has been stunning. It went from 12 seats in the 230-seat parliament in a 2022 election to 48 seats now.
Voters in Lisbon on Monday were divided.
“I feel very satisfied,” said Fernanda Quest, a 38-year-old maritime transport expert. “I think it is a moment of change.”
But 53-year-old police officer Isabel Fernandes said she felt apprehension “because some of the parties that elected many lawmakers have ideas that may go against fundamental rights, especially of women.”
Portugal’s election on Sunday is taking place because Socialist leader Antonio Costa resigned after eight years as prime minister.
Chega’s leader, Andre Ventura, has made common cause with other radical right parties across the continent.
Among Ventura’s invited guests in recent years were Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister and head of the populist, right-wing League party, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and the leader of neighboring Spain’s far-right Vox party, Santiago Abascal.
Those and other countries in the European Union have witnessed swings to the right in their mostrecent elections. That is setting political battle lines ahead of June 6-9 elections for the European Parliament.
Portugal’s center-right Social Democrat-led Democratic Alliance won 79 seats while the center-left Socialist Party, which governed for the last eight years, collected 77. The two parties have alternated in power for decades. Small parties took other seats.
Four seats are still to be distributed. They will depend on the votes of Portuguese living abroad. Traditionally, the Social Democrats and Socialists claim two of those seats each.
But times are different. Some Portuguese abroad are supporters of former President Trump and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, and they could see Chega as emulating them.
Portugal is holding a general election Sunday against a backdrop of corruption scandals and economic hardship that have eroded faith in moderate mainstream parties
After official results are published, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will consult the parties about who is best placed to form a government.
Social Democratic leader Luis Montenegro says he won’t accept a governing coalition with Chega, whose policy proposals many Portuguese find unpalatable.
Ventura has said he is prepared to drop some of his party’s most controversial proposals — such as chemical castration for some sex offenders and the introduction of life prison sentences — if that enables his party’s inclusion in a possible governing alliance.
The math is clear: If the Social Democrats and Chega come together, parties on the right will have about 135 seats — and a parliamentary majority — compared with about 90 for parties on the left.
Portugal, with its warm climate, plentiful sun and cheap cost of living, has become a destination for Californians.
The lack of clarity comes as the country of 10.3 million people needs to deploy billion of euros in EU investment funds as part of an economic recovery plan.
“More than the result of the elections, I’m worried more about governability, the capacity to reach consensus,” said Luis Marques, a 49-year-old accountant.
An editorial in the daily paper Publico said the election outcome was “a punch in the stomach” but the harm was “self-inflicted” because the traditional parties had a poor grasp of the public mood.
A slew of recent corruption scandals tarnished the Socialists and Social Democrats, and Chega ran under an anti-graft banner.
Public frustration with politics-as-usual was evident before the outcry over graft. Low wages and a high cost of living — worsened last year by surges in inflation and interest rates — coupled with a housing crisis and failings in public healthcare contributed to disgruntlement.
Chega offered a protest vote against all that.
Hatton writes for the Associated Press. AP video journalist Helena Alves contributed to this report.
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